This past summer, the Federal Circuit issued an en banc decision against rehearing in Athena Diagnostics, Inc., et al. v. Mayo Collaborative, et al. In the 7-5 decision, there were a staggering 8 separate opinions (four concurring and four dissenting). The common refrain in each was the need for the Supreme Court to address the […] On January 17th, 2020, Chief Judge Barbara Lynn granted Nintendo’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, invalidating iLife’s patent claim asserted against Nintendo for its Wii U games and the resulting jury verdict award of $10.1 million. In the motion, Nintendo raised challenges that the patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,796) for Systems Within […] The USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) has issued two revisions to the Standard Operating Procedures with the stated goal of “increasing transparency, predictability, and reliability across the USPTO”. The first, SOP 1, aims to provide clarity and certainty to the PTAB practice of expanded panels, which has come under criticism in recent years […] On July 1, 2018, the IP5 (Patent Offices for the US, the EU, Japan, Korea, and China) launched a new pilot program, PCT CS&E, testing collaborative search and examination for the PCT. The Pilot Program is currently scheduled to take a total of three years. In years one and two the IP5 will be conducting […] July 2, 2018 (Alexandria, VA) Maier & Maier PLLC is proud to announce its newest addition to the firm, Stephen Kunin, the former Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. As an expert in patent law for over 48 years, Mr. Kunin is a highly respected member of […] The Patent Trial Appeal Board (PTAB) recently reversed an examiner’s 101 Alice rejection in Ex Parte Jadran Bandic, and in so doing, provided insight into how the PTO will administer Director Iancu’s 101 Guidance Memo. The PTAB found the examiner’s analysis in Step One of the Alice rejection only considered limited portions of the claim […] Two Supreme Court Decisions came down April 24, 2018 with potentially significant impacts on patent practice. First, in Oil States v. Greene’s Energy, the Court rejected Oil States’ Article III and 7th Amendment challenges to inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, declaring the proceedings constitutional under the public rights doctrine. Second, the Court ruled that Patent […] Last fall, Maier & Maier highlighted a new defense strategy for Patent Owners against IPR (Inter Partes Review) Petitions in an overview of the ongoing Allergan “Tribal Immunity” Proceeding. In sum, Allergan transferred their patent portfolio to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (“Tribe”) in upstate New York, paying them a lump sum and royalties in […] Last fall, Maier & Maier highlighted a new defense strategy for Patent Owners against IPR (Inter Partes Review) Petitions in an overview of the ongoing Allergan “Tribal Immunity” Proceeding. In sum, Allergan transferred their patent portfolio to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (“Tribe”) in upstate New York, paying them a lump sum and royalties in […] In Actelion Pharms., Inc. v. Matal, the USPTO granted a Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) of 40 days for Actelion’s patent relating to pyridine derivatives. The patent at issue was a national stage application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Actelion contended that it should have been entitled to either 41 days from the 30-month deadline […]